San Juan

[ropeadope13]

First time in San Juan in January. I keep hearing the best thing to do is walk around downtown. We are typically the beach excursion type people, so walking around downtown doesn’t sound that appealing. Any suggestions?

If going with the walking around downtown option, what are the best lunch suggestions?

[Ryan79]

Go to Vistor and look up “El Yunque rainforest & waterside - VIP small group tour”. You will thank me later.

[foxrunner]

@Ryan79 How scary are the water slides? I know it is hard to gauge. The pictures look like 20-foot-high falls. Also, how crowded was it. We love to hike, how much time are you in the rainforest verse at the slides?

[Ryan79]

@foxrunner The day I was there they were intense due to heavy rains in the mountains. I didn’t go, but my 2 16 year old boys did after our guides made sure it was safe enough LOL. I imagine they aren’t too bad normally. The fall from the slide is closer to 3-4 feet, but there are cliffs and rope swings you can jump from that are 20 feet easily. The crowds were not at all bad. When we got there maybe 20 people, but within 30 minutes there was our group of 5 and another group of 3. Felt like you had the whole jungle to ourselves. As we were hiking out, another group of 10-15 or so was coming in. So it was never insane crowded. The access and slides are on private land with VERY limited parking. Maybe 6 cars could fit. The jungle is mostly on the walk in and out which is about a mile each way. However if you just want to hang out on the shore, you are IN the jungle because it’s so dense.  In my prior post, I identified the wrong tour. This is the one I booked: 

[Dan Curtis]

We went to Bacardi rum tour, its also a nice ride out there, we will be porting out of San Juan in January as well, we enjoy San Juan.

[ropeadope13]

I think we are just going to grab lunch and walk around for a little bit. Headed to Verde Mesa. Menu and reviews look great! 

[ropeadope13]

Where does RC dock at? Old San Juan port?

[Ryan79]

1 hour ago, ropeadope13 said:

Where does RC dock at? Old San Juan port?

Yes. You will be literally 10 steps from the start of Old San Juan when you step off the ship.

[Diesel]

Not sure if you've already done your trip this month but would give a strong recommendation to Mercado La Carreta for breakfast/lunch. It's quite popular if you look it up on Yelp. There was a waiting line the day we were there. However, while we waited, they took us to a secret bar in the back of the restaurant that is literally behind a bookshelf!

[jojot31]

If you're cruising with family I'd recommend Tour in a Box's self-guided scavenger hunt tour through Old San Juan. It starts at the cruise port and includes several restaurant recommendations along the route so you can scope out multiple options deciding where to stop for lunch

[Starrynight0154]

I was really impressed with the El Morro fort, views were incredible. Walking old San Juan was great, had horrible service at a restaurant though. Never got water with our meal despite requesting it 3 times within an hour. Was thirsty after walking a lot so this was disappointing. We had a table and a server that refused us water, so weird. Reviews online were great but it was a tourist trap. Stay away from Chocobar Cortes